The nominees are decided by over 1,000 members of the MOBO academy (all from a music or media background) but the winners are chosen by the public by phone vote or over the MOBO internet site (MOBO.net).

The awards have been dismissed as lacking in credibility by some pro-black groups who claim that the ceremony is not truly representative of the music within the black community and are used to gain mainstream acceptance for the most listener friendly of black artists.

On the whole however, the awards are seen as a celebration of contemporary music and as an acknowledgement of it's fundamental roots.